Is the Bible True? Carson Weitnauer, Fall 2011www.reasonsforgod.org

The Codex Sinaiticushttp://www.codex99.com/typography/23.html

Some questions:

Does Truth exist?What does the Bible say?Is the Bible true?Have you done some research?...What do we have in common?What do you think are the best objections to the Bible?

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Digging the foundationshttp://www.backhoe-excavator.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Backhoe-Photo.jpg

•The Bible is full of myths

•The Bible contradicts itself

•The Bible has been translated so many times we have no idea what it originally said.

Common Ideas:

http://greywolf.critter.net/images/gallery/critters/2007-09-14-happy-pink-unicorn.jpg

The Flood Images: http://climate.met.psu.edu/features/Floods/flood%20house%20pic.jpg http://www.cdli.ucla.edu/dl/photo/P384786.jpghttp://www.kchanson.com/PHOTOS/gilgtab.html

http://www.heritagebookshop.com/photos/images/65401_2.jpg

Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews: Book 1, Chapter 3, Section 6

“Now all the writers of barbarian [Greek] histories make mention of this flood and of this ark: among whom is Berosus the Chaldean... Hieronymous the Egyptian.... Nicolaus of Damascus, in his ninety-sixth book, hath a particular relation about them, where he speaks thus: 'There is a great mountain in Armenia, over Minyas, called Baris, upon which it is reported that many who fled at the time of the Deluge were saved; and that one who was carried in an ark came on shore upon top of it; and that the remains of the timber were a great while preserved. This might be the man about whom Moses, the legislator of the Jews wrote'.”

http://perseus.uchicago.edu/perseus-cgi/citequery3.pl?dbname=GreekTexts&getid=1&query=Joseph.%20AJ%201.99

Widespread Testimony regarding a flood:

Approximately 270 known Flood stories from around the world.•88% of them single out a favored individual or family. •70% point to survival due to a boat. •67% speak of animals saved along with human beings. •66% see the Flood coming as a result of human wickedness. •66% indicate that the hero receives warning of the coming catastrophe. •57% record that the survivors end up on a mountain.

http://www.pleaseconvinceme.com/index/The_Old_Testament_Is_Verified_Archeologically

Precision and accuracy in the detailshttp://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/322749.jpg

When and where were the gospels written?

Early Christian Tradition:

Bart Ehrman

Matthew JudeaOutside of Palestine

Mark Rome35-65 years after

the events

Luke Antioch / Rome

John Ephesus (Asia)

Boston to Toronto: 550 miles Jerusalem to Ephesus: 632 miles Jerusalem to Rome: 1426 miles

Data and flow of argument from Peter Williams: http://www.bethinking.org/bible-jesus/intermediate/new-evidence-the-gospels-were-based-on-eyewitness-accounts.htm

Study of 3,000 Jewish names

Top 9 names used in this time period =

41.5% of all names used

Top 9 names used in the gospels = 40.3% of

all names used

Four Biblical gospels vs. 16 apocryphal

gospels:How many cities?

Apocryphal gospels:1 city - Jerusalem

The Gospel of Peter identifies “Nazareth” as

Jesus’ middle name

Biblical gospels:12-14 towns each, 23

towns total

Gospels vs. apocryphal gospels:

Ratio of total words to use of place names

~0Gospel of Peter: ~3

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John: 4.6-4.9

Names, Cities, and Writing Style:

Data and flow of argument from Peter Williams: http://www.bethinking.org/bible-jesus/intermediate/new-evidence-the-gospels-were-based-on-eyewitness-accounts.htm

1.The use of stone water jars in the New Testament (John 2:6).

2. The proper place of Jacob’s well (2:8)

3. Josephus in (Wars of the Jews 2.232), confirms there was significant hostility between Jews and Samaritans during Jesus’ time (4:9).

4. “Went up” accurately describes the ascent to Jerusalem (5:1).

5. Archaeology confirms the existence of the Pool of Siloam (9:7)

6. The obscure and tiny village of Ephraim (11:54) near Jerusalem is mentioned by Josephus.

Archaeology and John’s Gospel

Data: https://chab123.wordpress.com/2011/09/19/what-are-the-gospels/Image: http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/633970-L.jpg

Contradictions?http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hokm34FwhUU/SwpIGfaR5-I/AAAAAAAAATw/4quZCvYtvS4/s1600/iStock_000009588296Medium.jpg

OT vs. NT Godhttp://th08.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2010/221/1/d/Angry_Zeus_by_06ilkeR.jpg

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Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD: Behold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land: the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will dash them one against another, fathers and sons together, declares the LORD. I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.’”

Jeremiah 13:13-14

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us.

1 John 4:18-19

Judge... or judge not?http://www.legaljuice.com/gavel%20judge%20court.jpg

¹“Judge not, that you be not judged.²For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.”

Matthew 7:1-2

²Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? ³Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!

1 Corinthians 6:2-3

3Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? ⁵You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

Matthew 7:3-5

Examples  from  http://www.philvaz.com/apologetics/bible.htm

The Telephone Game?http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DBQQ8JKvM1I/Tbg3wofQNmI/AAAAAAAAIcA/YXK9_iyilgE/s1600/DSC08589.JPG

Dead Sea Scrolls to the Masoretic Text: 1000+ years of transmission!http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eCg2WMGc74A/ToE_vE5R30I/AAAAAAAADk4/5KM2prpfnKY/s1600/dead-sea-scroll.jpg

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"Even though the two copies of Isaiah discovered in Qumran Cave 1 near the Dead Sea in 1947 were a thousand years earlier than the oldest dated manuscript previously known (A.D. 980), they proved to be word for word identical with our standard Hebrew Bible in more than 95 percent of the text. The five percent of variation consisted chiefly of obvious slips of the pen and variations in spelling."

Gleason Archer, Ph.D. in Classics from Harvard University

http://bible.org/article/dead-sea-scrolls

•The Greek manuscripts (over 6,000 of them)

•Translations of the documents into other languages (into Latin, Coptic, Syriac, etc.)

•Quotations of the New Testament from the Church Fathers

Preservation of the New Testament

http://nttextualcriticism.blogspot.com/2011/03/codex-w-and-greek-enoch-i-dont-think-so.htmlhttp://www.str.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6068

"If all other sources for our knowledge of the text of the New Testament were destroyed, [the patristic quotations] would be sufficient alone for the reconstruction of practically the entire New Testament."

Bruce MetzgerEditor of the United Bible Societies' Greek New TestamentChair of the NRSV Translation Committee

http://www.str.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6068

A side by side comparison between the two main text families (the Majority Text and the modern critical text) shows agreement a full 98% of the time. Of the remaining differences, virtually all yield to vigorous textual criticism. This means that our New Testament is 99.5% textually pure. In the entire text of 20,000 lines, only 40 lines are in doubt (about 400 words), and none affects any significant doctrine.

99.5% Textually Pure

Greg Koukl: http://www.str.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6068

From the critical apparatus of the original text to modern English translations.http://images.quebarato.com.br/T440x/ovo+testamento+grego+nestle+aland+27+edicao+capa+dura+azul+sao+paulo+sp+brasil__27DB4D_1.jpg

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Zhu Haiyang (left), who beheaded Xin Yang, 22, at a Virginia Tech university cafe.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/ffximage/2009/01/23/470virginiatech_behead,1.jpg

Ocean’s Testimony to the power of the Bible:

"I like our discussion about Jesus being the Light that expels darkness; that metaphor is so vivid for me after I'm moved from a dark cell to one with lights always on.  Light gives us hope and direction, like a beacon; light also allows us to see ourselves and those around us the way they are, while darkness conceals the pretty and ugly alike in murkiness.  Light is truth and reality, it helps us overcome depression, deception and aimlessness.  Imagine when a blind person receives his eyesight back after so many years living in the dark, probing and stumbling and disoriented; the joy of that moment fits exactly w/mine when I notice the change Jesus has made in my heart and my life.  He is the "Prince of Peace"  (Is. 9:6)."

"I got the ESV study Bible last Friday.  I love it so much that I read it until lights went out and then held it in my arms for a while before I went to sleep.  Thank you -- it is the best, most precious gift for me."

Is the Bible True? Carson Weitnauer, Fall 2011www.reasonsforgod.org

The Codex Sinaiticushttp://www.codex99.com/typography/23.html

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